Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to get hit by a thousand bottle rockets? If so, you might want to check out the Yanshui Fengpao Fireworks Festival in Tainan. During this unique festival, there are many floats and festivities, but the most famous part is the fireworks. Thousands of bottle rockets are fired at brave participants who stand right in front of the explosive bottle rockets on purpose!
bottle rocketn. 沖天炮 participant [ pɑrˈtɪsəpənt ] n. 參與者 explosive [ ɪkˈsplosɪv ] a. 會（引起）爆炸的
How did this unique festival start? In the late 19th century, Yanshui was a busy port city. At the time, many residents were suffering from a plague. In order to drive out the disease, locals paraded a statue of a god around the city and set off lots of firecrackers. Shortly afterwards, the disease seemed to go away! Many years later, people began using bottle rockets instead of firecrackers for the festival.
plague [ pleg ] n. 瘟疫 parade [ pəˈred ] vt. 把……（沿街）示眾 set off... / set... off施放……（煙火、鞭炮等）
More recently, large platforms have been used to launch the bottle rockets. These platforms resemble giant beehives, which is how the festival got its current name. If you feel brave enough to take on a bunch of exploding bottle rockets, check out the Yanshui Fengpao Fireworks Festival!
